On Monday, Federal Senators began the debate on the Marriage Amendment Bill (No.2) 2012. The bill calls for the amendment of the Marriage Act 1961 to enable same-sex marriages to be recognised. The current definition of marriage as outlined in the Marriage Act 1961 is “the union of a man and a woman to the exclusion of all others, voluntarily entered into for life.” Should the Marriage Amendment Bill be passed, the words “a man and a woman” would be replaced with “two people” to remove the gender-specific reference of marriage partners.

Below is a summary of Senators for and against amending the definition of marriage.